Swarm bees with wax on adbomen

[BeeMaster2]

Ever wonder how swarms can produce so much wax.
Look at the second picture at the abdomen of the bees I am pointing to. You can see the wax bulging from the abdomen of several of those bees.
I had used a styrofoam container to scoop up bees off a wall, about 20 feet from the ground. When I climbed down and looked at the plate, I could see balls of wax on the bees. I have had bees and an observation hive for 4 years and I have never seen this and I have been looking to see wax. I suspect the wax got balled up while I was scooping up the bees. Just thought it was pretty neat.
Jim
 

[Billy B]

Very cool!   I've looked and looked but have never seen the wax secreting.  A couple of years back, there was a photo by Debbe Krape that captured the wax secretions and Dr. Zachary Huang observed that it was not normal.   But instead, the bee had stacked multiple layers of wax  ... in your picture it looks like there are a bunch of bees that are overloaded like that.   

Here's a link to a post on HoneyBeeSuite that talks about Debbe Krape's photo and shows another "normal" secretion photo by Dr. Huang.

http://www.honeybeesuite.com/tag/wax-glands/

[Intheswamp]

Nice catch there, Jim!!!  Great photos!!!  I've yet to see that.

Thanks for sharing!
Ed

[BeeMaster2]

Very cool!   I've looked and looked but have never seen the wax secreting.  A couple of years back, there was a photo by Debbe Krape that captured the wax secretions and Dr. Zachary Huang observed that it was not normal.   But instead, the bee had stacked multiple layers of wax  ... in your picture it looks like there are a bunch of bees that are overloaded like that.   

Here's a link to a post on HoneyBeeSuite that talks about Debbe Krape's photo and shows another "normal" secretion photo by Dr. Huang.

http://www.honeybeesuite.com/tag/wax-glands/

Thanks, like I said, after years of looking for wax cells this was the first. My wife took the pictures with my iphone but we really had no idea if they came out.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Nice catch there, Jim!!!  Great photos!!!  I've yet to see that.

Thanks for sharing!
Ed

Thanks Ed,
Next time you catch a swarm, keep an eye out for the wax. That seems to bee the best chance.
Jim

[Intheswamp]

Jim, I will definitely be looking for it.  In the swarm captures that I've done it's been "get'em in the box and watch for the queen".  This spring I'll take a little more time with them and see if I can spot the wax. :)

Thanks again for those pictures...they're really neat!!!
Ed

[BeeMaster2]

Jim, I will definitely be looking for it.  In the swarm captures that I've done it's been "get'em in the box and watch for the queen".  This spring I'll take a little more time with them and see if I can spot the wax. :)

Thanks again for those pictures...they're really neat!!!
Ed

Thanks Ed.
Now that i know, I too will bee looking when I get swarms.
Jim

[BeeMaster2]

Update.
When I set up this hive box, I could not put it up high enough to get it right next to the swarm. The bees were in the block wall and were going inside and coming out a hole inside this car repair shop. There was only one ladder available so I could not get to the bees on the inside.
He said he would bee there on Saturday from 10:00 till 2:00. I called his call several times on Saturday morning but no answer. My wife and I arrived at 11:00 and the building was locked and I still could not call him.
I had put a lot of bees in the box hoping they would move in but when I looked in the hive through the bottom screen, there was only a handfull  of bees at the entrance.
I brought a 21 foot ladder to use on the inside and smoke them out and to spray bee quick into the void. This should have been a quick event driving them out but the clock is ticking and if I do not get them out soon, I will not bee able to get them out. I am not doing a block removal.
Jim

[Intheswamp]

Lovely... :-\